Mayor of Sioux Falls Tells Residents to Stop Pumping Water into Sewer System; Against City Ordinance

Sioux Falls residents are still being reminded to be sure their sump pumps are not putting water into the city sanitary sewer system.

Mayor Mike Huether says the city dodged what he calls "a major bullet," partly because of improvements to infrastructure and work by city employees. But he says residents need to stop putting sump pump water into the sanitary sewer:

Public Works Director Mark Cotter says illegally discharging sump pump water is a violation of city ordinance, and he says the city has ways to find out who is doing it.

Sioux Falls Public Works Director Mark Cotter says the city wastewater treatment plant was handling record loads during and after the Monday rainstorm.

The storm dumped three inches at the Sioux Falls airport, but many areas in the city and to the south had much more, and Cotter says the rain over-taxed the sewer system:

Cotter says the lift stations that are part of the sanitary sewer system are catching up, although he says there were times Monday night when the city was, as he puts it, "truly walking a tightrope" with the capacity of a lift station near Rice Street and Bahnson Avenue.